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Journalism Interns at a School of Rock

Casting calls are going out on college campuses late next month for aspiring Rolling Stone writers who would also look good on MTV and want to become famous, or almost famous.

Jann Wenner, publisher of Rolling Stone, has signed a deal with MTV for a reality show in which the magazine gives internships to several journalism students, who then compete to become a Rolling Stone contract writer. This is not unlike the plot of "Almost Famous," the semifictionalized hit movie by Cameron Crowe about his experience as a youth writing for, yes, Rolling Stone.

Mr. Wenner said that contrary to rumors, he had no intentions of being the star of the show. "I've been optioned to appear if I want," he said. "But I'm not the star. They don't want me to be the star. It's not a Donald Trump-like thing. If I'm in it, I'm peripheral. I might be the person who reads a manuscript."

Gary Armstrong, chief marketing officer for the parent Wenner Media, said the producers would be looking for college students who are "journalists, telegenic, have an interesting personality and are interested in music journalism." The number to be chosen is still up in the air but could be 6 to 15, he said.

The cameras will follow them as they move to New York for the summer.

Mr. Wenner, 59, said he was dead set against sets like group housing and hot tubs, devices commonly used in reality shows as a sign of escapades to come.

"That gets you into the silly 'Real World' stuff, and this isn't meant to be that," Mr. Wenner said, referring to MTV's original reality show. "We're talking about examining people's careers as they're trying to grow up, looking for jobs as opposed to looking at their teenage love lives. We're not interested in hookups." KATHARINE Q. SEELYE